Wonderland
by gleeme33
Summary: "Through the looking glass we go". Finn's adventures in Wonderland. Hints of Finchel, one-shot, plus an author's note after.
1. Through The Looking Glass

**Not sure what this is – I'm thinking it came from listening to the cast recording of **_**Wonderland **_**one too many times. Thanks, Lewis Carroll, for endless inspiration that all things based on your works provide at all the times when I need it most. :) A one-shot, but with an author's note following. Thanks and enjoy.**

Mad Hatter: "_Oh, yes, Alice! I have a final riddle for you. I have eyes, but they have no sight, I cannot be seen in the black of night. You move left, I move right. In the looking glass, I come to light! Who am I?_"

Alice: "_You're my reflection!_"

Mad Hatter: "_Ooh, very good, Alice – I'm your alter ego! You were meant to come here years ago, but when real life interrupted your childhood, I came to be. Since then, every time you've had a promise to you broken, or gotten your heart broken, it becomes a part of me._"

Alice: "_Then I feel sorry for you!_"

Mad Hatter: "_Don't! I'm all you wish you were._"

Alice: "_No! No, Hatter! For all my ups and downs – I'm _glad_ I'm who I am!_"

– _Wonderland _on Broadway

Finn remembers running. Yes, yes that's right – he was running…running on the football field. Right, that's it. He was running to catch that pass Puck threw him…or…maybe that was the day before? He doesn't really remember. All he knows now is that, someway somehow, he ended up here…

Where _here _is, however, he isn't entirely sure.

He wanted to say there was fire, at first, burning into his bare flesh, holding him down until he could scream no longer…but no…it was more water. Water, whipping him away, flinging him under until his lungs nearly gave out. Or maybe it was wind, moving whisperingly through his hair, tingling his senses, murmuring his name. Then it was…something dark. Something _dark _dark. Then there was literal _pain_. Like…a needle. Or a stab. Finn wasn't exactly sure of the magnitude of it.

And then…

_Light_…

…

_Bliss_.

He was sure that he had died.

"Um…hello? H-hello? Are you okay?"

Finn blinked.

No, he wasn't dead after all! He was far from it. He took a breath, which then became many, many baited breaths. He felt like he had just ran a marathon – his legs, ankles, and thighs ached; his chest heaved and his eyes were tearing up. Finn coughed, chocking on air. He blinked multiple times in a row, quickly, and finally regained his vision.

_Oh wow_…

He figured he must have been blind before.

The sun – no…there was more then _one _sun here…two? Three? Yes, that's it, _three_! – They were shinning brighter then the one sun he'd known had ever shinned in his lifetime, but he didn't feel the need to cup a hand over his eyes, or even squint at all. The three suns were like spotlights – one yellow, or golden, much like the sun he'd known, one a baby-pink color, and the last a lilac-y purple. The ground of which Finn was laying on, flat on his back, felt like grass…but it was blue. In the distance, too, he thought he heard ocean waves. Taking in the perfectness of…wherever he was, Finn didn't feel so tired out anymore…more like _renewed_. _Rejuvenated. _Light blue grass with a sky that was the canvas of a pastel artist, complete with the sweet melody of the sea…

Surely, this was a different world. A new one. A beautiful one.

A _better _one…

"Um…are you okay?"

And the beauty didn't stop there.

Standing over him now was a girl, about his age. She was breathtakingly stunning – a blonde with cat-like, almost slit-y eyes. They were an earthy, hazel green …or maybe they were a sparkling blue…or maybe a pink-ish color? Whatever color they were at the moment, moreover, absolutely screamed_ color_,in every sense of the word. Perhaps they were multi-colored – all the colors of the rainbow, together, twinkling in this blonde's cat-eyes all at once. Or maybe…maybe they just _changed _color so quickly that Finn couldn't tell the difference. But it wasn't just her _eyes _that were mesmerizing. Her skin was like porcelain alabaster; her hair was like a shoulder-length field of sunshine. Head-to-toe, she was dressed in white. A white, almost floor-length dress with matching cardigan and flats. But Finn realized soon enough that whatever color her eyes were admitting at the moment was the color of her clothing at that moment, too.

"Oh," Finn breathed, breaking out of his trace. "You…you mean me…y-yeah, I-I think I'm okay…"

"You took quite a fall there!" She said, reaching her hand out to him. He took it, and she pulled him up off the ground as if Finn weighed nothing at all. Hmm…this girl looked like she could hardly do a push-up. "Who are you, again?" She asked in her whispery voice.

"Uh, I…I'm Finn," he answered as best he could as the girl looked him over with her cat-eyes.

"Where are from, Finn?" She asked another question.

"I from L-Lima, Ohio," was his answer.

"Hmm…" she mused almost playfully. "Finn from the land of Lima. I don't think I've made your acquaintance before, have I? I am Lucibelle Q, from the land of Color, where we are now. But 'Lucibelle' is _much_ too formal – you can call me Lucy!"

"Okay, Lucy, but…where – where are we?"

The girl smiled brightly and simply replied:

"Wonderland."

_Wonderland_…

No wonder.

"So, shall we be going then?"

"Going?" Finn asked. "Going _where_?" Lucy laughed when he said this. She then said:

"Every human is brought to Wonderland to find something. Therefore you have a reason to journey here, Finn from the land of Lima. Even if you do not know it yet. So c'mon!" She grabbed his hand and started walking.

"You…you're going to help me?" Finn asked. "Just like that?"

"Of course I am!" She said, turning around. With one hand on her hip, Lucy added: "People come into our lives for a reason. Even if we don't know the reason yet."

"Th-thanks Lucy," Finn whispered as the two started walking through the soft, plush-like blue ground. He was totally surprised, and had to bit his tough not to scream a question about it, when he saw a white cat-like tail peek out from the back Lucy's ever-color-changing dress.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx **

"I think I know someone who can help you," said Lucy, once Finn thought they had just been walking and walking for hours. The scenery around them now was like a meadow, lush and green, but with multi-colored mushrooms all over the place, and tall, thick trees creating pools of shade. The ground was plush still, like they were walking on carpet, and the sounds of the ocean were no longer in the distance.

"But who could help me here?" Finn asked. Lucy giggled and said:

"Who _couldn't _help you here?" She put her hand out in front of him, as to tell him to wait, so he stood there as she walked farther into the plush grass. Lucy closed her eyes for a moment and murmured something that Finn couldn't understand…perhaps it was another language altogether?

"You called, Lucibelle?"

From the other side of one of the thick trees came a boy. He was shorter then Finn, and had sort of a baby-face to him. The boy had blonde-brown hair and wore a business suit – like an itty-bitty Wall Street broker. His tie looked like a leaf with one bite out of the side, and his fabulous hat matched it. Out from the shadows stepped another boy – this one with thick, brown hair, dressed in a red-and-blue blazer. It took Finn a while to realize that amidst all the curly hair were two brown bunny ears – one flopped up, the other bending more down. They came out hand-and-hand, and soon were over with Finn and Lucy.

"Finn from the land of Lima," Lucy introduced. "Meet Sir Jaxper Henry Huntington the third!" She gestured to the first, smaller boy – "And this is Moritz, but you can call him Morry – everyone does!"

"Hello, stranger!" Morry chimed brightly. "Why don't I recognize you?"

Lucy looked only at Jaxper and said: "Jax, meet Finn. He's not from here."

"He's _not_, is he?" Jaxper eyed Finn and started pacing around him in circles, looking him over. Morry gasped. "Hmm…who are you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Finn responded.

"Who _are _you?" Morry added.

"_Who_. _Are_. _You_?" Jaxper asked with more emphasis.

"I…I…" Finn fumbled for an answer.

"I don't think _you _even know," was what Jaxper said with narrowed eyes. He turned then to Lucy and added: "Lucibelle, darling, you know where to take him. Good luck with this one."

"You're gonna need it!" Morry added. "He doesn't even know who he _is_!"

"I'm _Finn_!" Finn finally demanded. "Finn Hudson!"

"Oh, _no_," said Jaxper. "You are _much_ more then that."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Come on, we're almost there!" Lucy yelled, running along a woodsy path. "Morry and Jax will meet us there."

"Where are we going now?" Finn asked. "And why are we running?"

"We have to get you a reservation!"

"A…what?" Were they going to a…a restaurant or something?

"A reservation!" Lucy repeated. "C'mon, here we are – we…" she trailed off, looking him over. "Oh, _look _at you!" She scoffed. "You look disgusting!" She licked her hand a couple of times and then proceeded to run it through Finn's hair…oblivious to the awkwardness that paralyzed him.

"Um…thanks…" he murmured.

"Don't mention it," she said, and then she grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, opening the white, swinging gate that was in front of them.

Beyond the gate was a long, Harry Potter-like table. Around it were all very…_outlandish_ people, seemingly playing musical chairs. All except for a few guests, busy with other things, so it seemed. There was a more heavyset girl, dressed up in a yellow, Bell-like a ball gown, gossiping with another girl. Two more girls, one Latina, the other a blonde, shared a seat and were currently hooking up. The Latina girl had a tight-fitted red dress on, and Finn could have sworn that a red, arrow-like devil tail was sticking out of the back of her dress just as Lucy's white, kitten-like one did. The blonde had a tiny blue and pink jester's hat on, and was dressed in a poof-y pink dress. Other guests at this little party included one Asian girl in a tight-fitting black and red dress, who had a Panda's ears. She was making out with an Asian boy, who had white rabbit ears poking out from his white fedora – this hat topped off the white tux look he was going for. There was a boy in a wheelchair with distinct puppy features, in a black tux, and a blonde trout-mouthed boy wearing the same.

"Lucy…are you sure I'm not underdressed?" The blonde herself had somehow changed into a ball gown, too. She giggled at him, and in a second, he was wearing an old-fashioned, ruffled blue tux. "_Really_?" He said, looking himself over.

"Short notice," is what she said with a shrug. "Now c'mon!" She pulled him in and with a closer look, Finn saw another guest…or maybe he was a host. He looked Finn's age, and was extremely well muscled. A mohawk separated a boarder between his two floppy brown bunny ears.

"Who's that?" Finn asked.

"That's Griffin," she said, giving him a sexy wave, licking her lips. He smiled when she caught his eye – obviously happy to see her. He nearly dropped the teapot in his hands when he realized that she and Finn were coming _together_.

"Lucibelle…" he started, jumping off the table he was standing on and walking towards the two.

"He's just a _friend_, Griffin," Lucy said. "Trust me."

"Okay," he took a breath of relief. "Does your friend have a reservation?" He looked at Finn. "Your name?"

"Finn," he answered.

"_Finn_…" he murmured. "Hmm. You're just in time to meet our host. Come sit." And so they did, as Griffin jumped back on the table. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, citizens, illegal aliens, and inanimate objects of Wonderland!" Everyone snapped to attention. "May I present to you, the one, the only, Madeline Katarina Adelaide – "

" – Everyone calls her Maddie," Lucy explained in Finn's ear. "But you should know – she's the second most powerful person in Wonderland. Becoming number one means the world to her…"

She appeared sort of out of nowhere, and in a flash Griffin took her hand and pulled her up onto the table with him. If Lucy was like water – calm and gentle and sweet, this girl was the opposite. This girl was like fire, fierce and scorching on the outside, ready to burn down anyone and anything in her path. But there was something about her…something…_different_ that Finn had to get to the bottom of. She stood there with an almost sardonic look on her face. Dressed in black, she looked stunning…but the surprising part was that on her head, she wore a rather large hat. It matched her outfit perfectly and two embellishments – one was a single black feather, the other what seemed to be a price tag or something of the sort. It read: _10/6_, and Finn wondered what that meant to her. That's when she started to sing. It was something beautiful, something…hypnotic. Or maybe it wasn't the song. It was her _voice_. Her voice…

And then, she looked at him.

He could have died and gone to Heaven, right then and there.

"Griffin!" She spun around, looked at the mohawked boy, and then straight into Finn's eyes. "Who is this _party crasher_?"

"I thought you'd might want to meet him, Maddie," they stepped off the table together. "He says his name is Finn. He's not from here."

"_Finn…_" she murmured just like Griffin had, and looked him over. "He's not what I expected him to be…not yet…" She swished her long, dark hair and nodded at Lucy.

"Maddie," said the blonde, walking closer to the other girl. "Good to see you."

"You too, Lucy," she said. "It's been a while." Maddie turned to Griffin, then back to Lucy. "Would you give us a moment alone?" They looked at each other, and wordlessly went to join the party. Finn expected the girl to give him some sort of lecture, such as Jaxper and Morry did, but no. Surprisingly enough, she bent down and picked a flower from the grass below them. It was just a simple weed, but when it touched her grip, it became a fully bloomed red rose.

"Pity," is what she said first, in a low monotone. "Such a _pity_."

"Wha – "

"The flowers, _Finn_!" She didn't let him interrupt. "The _red roses_ to be exact. Such a pity that they have to _wither_ – " the rose in her hand started to do just that. " – And _die_…" it did so right as she said so.

"But, that's the way it is with everything…" Finn nearly whispered. She gave him an angry, hard glare.

"A little boy grows up with a sense of wonder and hope…then quickly become a teenager and completely _forgets _all the dreams that reside in his head."

"…In my…_head_…?"

She smiled.

…

In a flash, he and Maddie were in another place before his very eyes – still Wonderland, but a part of it that looked…_dead_.

"You know why you are here now," she said.

"But…I don't!"

"You do," she protested calmly. In a second, she put something in his pocket, but Finn didn't know what. He didn't seem to think it would matter. "And now you shall."

He felt like he was falling.

Falling – down, down, down – backwards, forwards – this way, that way…

…

"You've kept me waiting long enough."

Finn looked up. Above him stood a man. He was dressed in what appeared to be a coat of armor…only closer to being black then sliver. Over half of his face, he wore a red mask – a la the white phantom mask in _Phantom of the Opera_. This red mask was shaped to look like half a heart, and the crest on his chest matched this, and so did the crown on his head. He had dark hair and lighter eyes, but Finn couldn't tell the color. His eyes were stone-like.

"Who are you?" Finn asked, stumbling to his feet.

"Who do you think?" Finn didn't respond to the man's cold voice. "No? Answer me this, then – why is a raven like a writing desk?"

"They both hold quills as black as ink." Finn didn't know how he knew the answer.

"Hmm," said the man. "You're good at riddles, yes? How about another? What does one find through the unbreakable looking glass?"

"I…"

"Through the parallels of dark and light, of up and down – what is left?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "It's just a reflection."

"You could not be more wrong," said the man. "Your reflection is not _nothing_. It is _everything_."

"Who _are _you?" Finn demanded again. The man laughed. "You…you're my reflection!"

"I am_ you_," he said. "I am the shadow on the ground and the song in your heart. I'm what you see in the looking glass."

"No."

"No?" He laughed again. "_No_?"

"_No_. You are _not_ me. _I _am. _I_ am who I am. Not _you_. _Me_."

He laughed yet again. And in his pocket, Finn found the answer. He whipped out what Maddie had put there – a dagger. The crowned man did exactly the same thing.

"It is clear the rules of the game," he said. "Such a chess bored, yes? Two pieces can not occupy the same square – one must _take _the other."

So they dueled. Swords clashing with a _cling! _of the metal,and a _woosh! _through the air. They dueled, and one would have to take the other…

And that's exactly what Finn did.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx **

"Finn?"

"_Finn_? C'mon, wake up!"

"Finn? _Finn_!"

He opened his eyes.

There he was laying, flat on his back. He shot up, and looked around. No…he wasn't in Wonderland anymore…he was far from it – back in Lima, Ohio. Lying on the football field that is. Above him stood Puck, also in his football uniform, Quinn, who wasn't in her Cheerios uniform with Brittany and Santana over by the bleachers, Coach Beiste, and Rachel, who looked especially concerned. He coughed, and then let out an '_ugh_'.

"…and that yeti of a linebacker came out of no where!" Puck was explaining.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," he said as best he could, getting up. "I am now."

"_Through the looking glass we go,_

_Risking everything for what might be._

_Everything you used to know – _

_When your heart was young enough to see_

_Through your own reflection – _

_Past your imperfection_

_So intimidating – _

_No more hesitating! _

_Through the looking glass we go,_

_Where the world is in reverse – _

_And the ending always starts a new beginning._

_Through the mirror even though,_

_Things might go from bad to worse – _

_Close your eyes and learn to believe_

_So we can pass_

_Through the looking glass…_

…_Fear will make you braver,_

_Brave enough to save her –_

_All of you, and me –_

_Get set, one, two, three!_

_Through the looking glass we go,_

_Where the front is always back._

_Where what's left is right – _

_And sometimes wrong is righter!_

_Through the mirror even though,_

_There night is day and light is black,_

_Though we know that we may never come back,_

_Through the looking glass! …_

_...Through the looking glass we go,_

_Towards the opposite of me,_

_Where the tower's hours all run counter-clock-wise._

_Through the looking glass we go,_

_Across the nightmares in our way,_

_Through the mirror here we go_

_Through the looking glass!_"


	2. Author's Note

"…_Bec__ause finding Wonderland,_

_Is finding who you are –_

_The child within has always been there,_

_Like a shining star._

_So when I close my eyes,_

_I see forever, and –_

_I keep on finding Wonderland._

_Ordinary magic happens every single day –_

_Wonderland is never far away._

_Because finding Wonderland,_

_Is going home again,_

_To feel the love another gives and giving back and then –_

_If you should lose your way,_

_Reach out for someone's hand –_

_And you'll be finding Wonderland._

_You'll be finding_

_Wonderland!_"

– _Finding Wonderland_

Wow, I really don't know how to start this. I thought it'd be easy but it's not. Well, here it is, my 50th story. _Whoa_. That's insane. Anyway, I should be getting back to my current stories, because school starts on the sixth, but I had to post this story.

**The Inspiration –**

Before it closed on May 15th, 2011, I saw _Wonderland _on Broadway only once. I took the train in by myself because everyone who I could have seen it with said 'It'll be a kid's show', or 'it didn't get that great reviews', or 'I don't recognize any of the cast', or something like that. Boy, were they wrong! Seriously, it's a mystery to me why that show closed so early! It was defiantly something special and beautiful. I'm a little upset because there's no category for it on this website! If there were, I'd be writing _Wonderland _fanfiction right now :). It even says in the Playbill how the show was based on and only on Lewis Carroll's original text. So, maybe I'm a little biased because I think that man was a _genius_. But either way – it combined two of my great loves, musicals and Lewis Carroll.

I was watching _Legally Blonde: The Musical! _online when I decided to re-visit _Wonderland_. Kate Shindle, who played Vivian in _Legally Blonde_,played The Mad Hatter in _Wonderland_, and when I saw her again I was reminded of how fabulous she was as Hatter. For me, she stole the show. Seriously, I totally recommend you search _Wonderland _on ITunes, and if there's one song you download, it should be _I Will Prevail_. Kate Shindle freakin' _rocks _it. I think she's a mezzo-soprano, but I'm not totally sure. Either way, she _kills _the high E at the end of the song! Another stand out for me was Carly Rose Sonenclar, the adorable twelve-year-old who played Chloe, the daughter of our grown-up Alice. Janet Dacal and Darren Ritchie – Alice and Jack the White Knight – were good together, and it fits perfectly that they ended up getting engaged after the last show. :)

Also, I have to give a shout out to author _jackiekennedy_, who last year wrote the story _Quinn in Wonderland_. I love that story, although I didn't base this on it at all, but I just felt I should mention that.

**Finn – **

But anyway, back to the story. Yes, _my _Wonderland came from watching _Wonderland _and listening to the cast recording, but it wasn't just like it. Example: In _Wonderland _on Broadway, our hero is Alice, an adult woman trying to fix her broken family. In mine, our hero is Finn. I almost didn't focus this story on him for different reasons. One of them was because the _heroin_ in the stories based on _Alice In Wonderland _are almost always _female_. Another is because usually second-guess myself when I write Finn.

But my doubts about writing him well is what made me make him the main protagonist of this story after all! See, in most _Alice In Wonderland _renditions, the main hero or heroin (the Alice of the story) usually doesn't have a lot going on when they're alone as a character, then they're put into this otherworldly place and come out the hero or heroin. Same thing with Finn, I think. As a character alone, he doesn't have a lot going on. He's very much a guy that you could know, like most Alice's are a girl that you could know. That's one of the reasons why I like him with Rachel so much! They balance each other out – even if Rachel was real, she'd still be a _character_. And Finn, even though he's a character, is very _real_. And that's why he's an _Alice _type. :)

**The Wonderland Residents – **

One thing I did not want to do, just like they didn't want to do in _Wonderland _on Broadway, is tell you straight out where the characters of Wonderland come from in Alice's (or in this case, Finn's) mind. They let you figure that out for yourself. Example: In _Wonderland_, you find yourself wondering – did the Queen of Hearts come from Edwina? Or did she come from Alice's boss? Or was she just a culmination of all the troubles in Alice's life, from her marriage falling apart, to her wanting to be closer to Chloe, to her troubles with "teaching English instead of writing it"? Or was she just pathilogical fear that came from what Alice was afraid _might _end up happening to her and to Chloe? We will never _truly _know the correct answer, which makes them _all correct _in a way. I love this concept, and I wanted to put it in my story also, but here is some helpful information.

**Lucibelle Q (Lucy) – **Quinn. I almost made Rachel more of the Lucy character, but then I realized that it _had _to be Quinn. Like it or not Finchel fans, Quinn was Finn's first love. Lucy is the first person he meets in Wonderland. Quinn, I think, was a big wake-up call for Finn – from what happened with Beth, to how their relationship still fluctuates now in the show. Lucy literally _woke him up_. Lucy is compared to water and color in this story – used symbolically as _the familiar_. Even though he wakes up in a strange new world, Finn is quick to trust Lucy and go with her – she is familiar to him, even though he doesn't even know her yet. Quinn is very much the _familiar _to Finn. He pretty much trusts her, and except for in _Sectionals_, he really doesn't show much outward anger towards her at all. To him, she is what he's used to, hence why he reverts back to her after the break-up with Rachel in season two (that's my theory anyway.) But just because she's familiar doesn't mean she's what's right for him – at least not in all ways.

**Sir Jaxper Henry Huntington The Third (Jax)** – Kurt. A prestigious name for a prestigious boy. I used him as the 'caterpillar' arch for different reasons, too – in the show, Kurt very much questions who Finn _is_. From _Theatricality_, with the whole "I thought you were different" storyline, to how Finn reacts and then eventually reacts to his step-brother being bullied. Kurt tests Finn's character, and most of the time he passes. He stumbled a bit at first, as in the story, but eventually, he does pass the tests.

**Moritz (Morry) **– Blaine. I wanted to add some Klaine-y-ness in here. :) And yes, he _is _named after the character from _Spring Awakening_! Not for any particular reason, just because I was listening to _Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind_ at the time. :) In this story, Morry has Jaxper's back with the whole 'caterpillar' arch. As Kurt tests Finn in the show, Blaine very much helps Kurt _be _Kurt. Here is doing just that. :)

**Griffin **– Puck. Did you catch the Quick I put in here? Hopefully you did! This is more about the March Hare then about Puck, really. The March Hare always has the Mad Hatter's back in _Alice _stories. Even in _Wonderland _on Broadway, Morris the March Hare doesn't completely agree with what Hatter is doing, but he is loyal to her. He knows she is scared of loosing her shot at the throne, so he throws out the idea to take Chloe prisoner. They aren't romantically involved, but they're a team when they need to be. Puck is very much like this to Rachel throughout the show, my favorite example being _Born This Way_. Why would he care if she got a nose job? Really, _he_ wouldn't, but he knew _she _would after the fact. I don't ship Puckleberry at all, because I think if you add romance to this relationship, it pretty much _ruins_ the great dynamic. I do, however, ship Puckleberry _friendship_, the way that I know there will always be Mad Hatter/March Hare _friendship_. Friendship isn't even the best word to use with these…it's more of _loyalty_. Morris only turns against Hatter when he realizes that she is in such a bad mental state that she really _could _hurt someone. Puck says "I can't do this" to Rachel at the end of _Special Education_, knowing that he can't let her do this to Finn and to herself. See – _loyalty_.

**Madeline Katarina Adelaide (Maddie)** – Rachel. After I slotted Quinn into Lucy, I knew just where I had to put Rachel. This character placement came directly from watching Kate Shindle's portrayal of the Mad Hatter. In _Wonderland _on Broadway, the Hatter is female. I once watched an interview with Kate Shindle where she says something like: "I asked [the director of _Wonderland_], 'why is the Hatter a woman? Is it just a gimmick?' Because at first, gimmicks are nice and flashy and draw you in, but by the end they start to fade. But then I realized that it's about as far from a gimmick as it could be – the Hatter literally is a reflection of Alice's pain…" In my story here, it is nowhere near a gimmick either. Maddie is compared to fire just as Lucy is compared to water – as Quinn is familiar, Rachel in _unfamiliar _for Finn. At first, she's new and exciting and something special. Then it becomes deeper then that – Rachel, I think, makes Finn who he is. She helps him realize the good in him and in situations, as he does for her. Maddie gives Finn the dagger towards the end – Rachel and Finn constantly help each other battle and defeat their inner demons. Which is why anyone who says they're for each other, I think, are well, _wrong_.

**The Man – **Also known to myself as the King of Hearts, but as I said above, I didn't want to directly reveal that in the story, hence why he just became know as 'the man'. In _Wonderland _on Broadway, the Hatter is Alice's reflection through the looking glass – she is her alter-ego. She is, truly, what Alice would do if she could just completely act-out about all the pain in her life. Towards the end, Jack the White Knight helps Alice defeat the Hatter. Maddie helps Finn defeat the man. He represents Finn's inner demons, whatever they are and end up being at the time. When Jack says to the Hatter "why do you have it in for Alice?" she responds: "Before I lay it to ruin, I believe this kingdom formed a chess board – where the rules clearly state that two pieces cannot occupy the same square. One must _take_ the other." I use this metaphor in my story, too. Jack helps Alice take the Hatter, even though it is her fight. When he tells her to run away, she even says: "No, Jack, this is between me and the Hatter!" It is her fight, but he helps her win it – without him she would have died. Maddie gives Finn the dagger to help Finn defeat the man – without it he would have died. Rachel helps Finn in the fight with his inner demons – without her, he would loose the fight.

**Wonderland Itself –**

In _Wonderland_, they never truly tell you what Wonderland _is_, as I don't either. At the end of the musical it is implied that it was all a dream, when Alice wakes up in Chloe's room and sees Jack, her husband. Same here with Finn waking up from being tackled and seeing Rachel, Quinn, and Puck. But then during the final song, _Finding Wonderland_, you see the characters come out and stand behind Alice as she sings. As all the characters in Finn's life (Wonderland resident or Lima resident) will always be with him. We never truly know what Wonderland _is_, but that's really the point of _Finding Wonderland_. Alice sings: "…_Because finding Wonderland / Is taking time to see / The child within has always been there smiling back at me / So when I close my eyes / I just remember and / I cant hale finding Wonderland_…" When Lewis Carroll wrote _Alice's Adventures In Wonderland_, I think that's what he had in mind. He was preaching about finding and keeping with us our childhood joys. I think his idea was that no one should ever forget to love and to live another day to the fullest. And honestly, I think there is probably an even _deeper _message to his works that only Lewis Carroll will ever understand. But that's probably the point, isn't it? The Victorian Man in _Wonderland _represents Lewis Carroll. He says to Alice: "I have made the mistake of creating riddles that I do not know the answer of." Wonderland is just another one of those.

But like Alice sings: "_Ordinary magic happens every single day / Wonderland is never far away_."

It never will be, not as long as we believe in it. 


End file.
